ROSE BALLS OR SLEEP APPLES

In autumn, when the wild rose bushes slowly lose their leaves, the hairy ones fall
shaggy galls with their often bright red hue on the branches.
These are the larval chambers of the common rose gall wasp.
In the spring, the wasp lays its eggs in rosebuds that are about to burst open
away. The hatching larvae cause mechanical injuries to the plant
lead to tissue proliferation. The galls are protective for the larvae and
food source. The development of the larvae lasts until next spring. End
In summer/beginning of autumn, when the sleeping apple has withered, the larvae pupate
and spends the winter in her chamber asleep as a doll. During this time the
transformation from larva to insect. In the spring, the spirits of the
Rose gall wasp again and it eats its way through the hard bile first and then around itself
to fight through the shaggy curly head to the outside. This is the start of the new
flight phase and the cycle starts over.
Rose galls do not cause any significant damage to the plant.
They got the name sleeping apple from the belief in the Middle Ages that the galls
have a sleep-inducing effect. The shaggy apples became that for the night
put under the pillow!